Testing brain power

Jake Rill, Times Staff Writer

Gregg Nibbelink has become quite familiar with testing for concussions.

In the past few years, McDaniel College's head athletic trainer has helped implement baseline concussion testing and the procedures that the school's student-athletes who suffer concussions must follow.

After a Green Terror athlete is tested, he or she is sent to a trained physician, along with their testing results, and Nibbelink continues to monitor their progress.

"To have a physician trained in concussion evaluation and reading the results of the test, it's a great safety net for the athletes to be cared for to the level that they can," Nibbelink said. "There's no question that when the athlete goes back, they are safe to go back. There's no guesswork."

This season, every NCAA school will be following those same procedures that McDaniel has in the past. Several weeks ago, the NCAA reached a settlement in its concussion lawsuit, and will provide $70 million for concussion testing and diagnosis.

As part of this new agreement, several new procedures will be adopted across the NCAA, including baseline concussion testing for all schools. Student-athletes will not be able to return to play or practice the day a concussion is suffered, appropriate medical personnel will be present for all games and available at all practices, and schools must report diagnosed concussions and their results.

"I think once you have set standards that everybody's going to have to follow, it leaves no room for error, no wiggle room for self-interpretation," Nibbelink said.

After Nibbelink and his staff do the primary evaluation and the physician works with the student-athlete to help them recover, Nibbelink waits until they are ready to return. Then, the student-athlete retakes the baseline concussion test to determine if they can return to play.

Division I Mount St. Mary's University also had already incorporated many of the new enforced policies, much like McDaniel. At the Mount, there has been ImPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) testing for concussions, which is the same baseline concussion testing McDaniel utilizes.

On Tuesday, the McDaniel football team had all incoming freshmen, as well as players who have a history with concussions, complete the test. The ImPACT test is a 25-minute computerized test that measures symptoms, tests reaction times, and more.

"We've used baseline concussion testing in the past and had a progressive return to play policy," Mount St. Mary's head athletic trainer John Hoffman said. "I really think it's become the industry standard."

But McDaniel will be a part of more than just the new policies set by the NCAA.

The Centennial Conference, of which the Green Terror are members, will become the first Division III conference to implement new studies on concussion.

Matt Keller, the director of sports medicine at Franklin & Marshall College, will be leading the study. He and his group will go back to 2009, which is when Centennial schools began using digital medical records, to collect data on previous concussions.

This year, the conference will keep track of all concussions suffered in football.

"We're going to be monitoring the number of days until the athlete is symptom-free, and also the position on the field that the player was playing when the position occurred," Keller said at the Centennial Conference's "Kickoff" event last week at F&M.

As the conference collects data, it will eventually try to change policies to lower the risk of players suffering concussions in the future.

"I think the research is excellent," Nibbelink said. "It just continues what we've been doing. Athletic trainers have always been concerned about the health and well-being of the athletes. Adding more research to the full body that it is right now, I think it can't help but be a benefit."